 Iran nuclear accord: two months since the US quit Paris (AFP) July 6, 2018 - President Donald Trump in May withdrew the United States from a hard-won accord that Washington and other world powers signed with Iran in 2015 to curb Tehran's nuclear programme. After foreign ministers of Iran and the five other signatories -- Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- met in Vienna on Friday to find ways to keep the deal alive, here is a look-back over developments since Trump's withdrawal. - Washington walks away - Trump pulls the United States out of the landmark nuclear pact on May 8, reinstating Washington's sanctions on Iran and companies with ties to the Islamic republic. "The Iran deal is defective at its core," he says. Washington warns other countries to end trade and investment in Iran and stop buying its oil or face punitive measures, a move which also threatens foreign companies doing deals with Iran. Tehran's regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel applaud the decision. But Britain, France and Germany say they are determined to save the deal and its economic benefits for Iran. - Threats to resume enrichment - On May 12 Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran is preparing to resume "industrial-scale" uranium enrichment, limited under the accord, unless Europe provides solid guarantees to maintain trade ties reinstated under the deal. Washington warns on May 21 that Iran will be hit with the "strongest sanctions in history" unless it abides by controls on its nuclear programme. On May 24 the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says Iran continues to respect the terms of the 2015 accord. On May 30 the United States places several Iranian state groups on its sanctions blacklist, accusing them of serious human rights abuses and censorship. On June 4 Iran notifies the IAEA of the launch of a plan to increase its uranium enrichment capacity. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims this is aimed at producing nuclear weapons to be used against his country. - 'Attack foiled' in France - On June 30 authorities say they have foiled an alleged plot to bomb a rally by an exiled Iranian opposition group based in France also attended by leading US figures including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer. Six people are arrested in Belgium, France and Germany. The People's Mujahedeen of Iran charges that the Iranian regime is behind the alleged plot. But Tehran dismisses it is as a "false flag" designed to overshadow an upcoming trip to Europe by Rouhani to seek assurances that the nuclear deal can be maintained. The president arrives in Switzerland on July 2. - Five powers stand by deal - A top US official says on July 2 that Washington is determined to force Iran to change behaviour by cutting its oil exports to zero, confident the world has enough spare oil capacity to cope. US secondary sanctions on firms dealing with Iran would "snap back" in August for trade in cars and metals and in November for oil and banking transactions, the State Department official says. Rouhani responds on July 3 saying the United States can never prevent Iran from exporting its oil. On July 6 Tehran's five remaining partners vow in Vienna to back "the continuation of Iran's export of oil and gas." The foreign ministers agree with Iran an 11-point list of joint goals and reconfirm their commitment to the nuclear deal. Tehran's top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif praises them for their "will to resist" US pressure.
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Iran's top diplomat on Friday praised the country's remaining partners in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal for their "will to resist" US pressure after Washington withdrew from the deal in May.
"What I noticed during this meeting is that all the members, even the three allies, have committed and have the political will to take action and resist the United States," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a press conference, broadcast by Iran's Fars news agency, after talks in Vienna.
Three European nations along with Russia and China vowed at the meeting to keep the energy exporter plugged into the global economy despite the US withdrawal and threat of renewed sanctions, including on Iran's key crude oil exports.
The diplomats said they remained committed to the 2015 accord and to building up economic relations with Iran, including "the continuation of Iran's export of oil and gas" and other energy products.
"This is the first time they have shown this level of commitment, but we will have to see in the future what they really want to do and what they can do," Zarif said.
"If they continue to demonstrate the political will they showed today, they will get things done without any problem."
The foreign ministers agreed on an 11-point list of joint goals in the Austrian capital, where the accord was signed three years ago with the aim of reining in Iran's atomic programme in return for sanctions relief that promised greater trade and investment.
Iran has suffered worsening financial turbulence since US President Donald Trump abandoned the accord in May.
Washington has warned other countries to end trade and investment in Iran and stop buying its oil by early November or face punitive measures.
Iran disappointed with EU proposal on nuclear deal
Washington (UPI) Jul 6, 2018 -
The Iranian president said a European package of support for the U.N-backed nuclear agreement was disappointing and offered nothing beyond general commitments.
President Hassan Rouhani spent much of the week visiting European leaders to drum up support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a 2015 agreement reached between the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Germany and Iran. That agreement gave Iran relief from sweeping sanctions in exchange for peaceful nuclear commitments, though U.S. President Donald Trump this year said the deal was flawed and erased the U.S. signature.
That means some U.S. sanctions are reinforced next month. Sanctions reaching into the Iranian energy sector snap back in early November, though some European companies that have done business with Iran have already scaled back their operations.
"After the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, economic issues and problems in banking relations and oil have been created and companies that have invested in Iran are skeptical about continuing their activities in Iran," Rouhani said after speaking late Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Iran's exports remain robust at around 2 million barrels of oil per day, though some of its clients have already started looking for other options.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said after Trump pulled out of the JCPOA in May there was a unified position in Europe that respecting the U.N.-backed agreement with Iran was essential for peace.
The announcement followed comments from Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French minister of European and Foreign Affairs, who said European parties have looked to 1990s rules that would protect French and other European companies from U.S. pressure. A financial mechanism that's "immune" to the U.S. dollar would secure European financial interests in Iran and ensure its oil can still be exported, he said.
Rouhani said he arrived home from his European tour with little to show for it in terms of concrete support.
"Unfortunately the proposed package lacked operational solution and specific method for cooperation, and featured just a set of general commitments like the previous statements by the European Union," he said in statements published through his official website.
Iran has supplied oil to the Asian markets as well. China in particular could be less constricted by U.S. sanctions pressures than its European counterparts.
Juncker in May said that by Aug. 6, when the first set of U.S. sanctions go into force, European companies could be protected by blocking statutes that allows them to recover damages and nullifies the effect of any judgment imposed by a foreign court.
According to Rouhani, Merkel made it clear that European leaders want to stay in the deal.
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